2 people, 2 small dogs attacked by dogs that broke through screen door

A woman in Englewood and a neighbor who ran to help were both bitten by three large dogs that door through a screened front door to attack to smaller-breed dogs in the woman's living room. Jaclyn Allen reports.

KMGH

DENVER - Two small dogs were mauled in their own home after three larger dogs forced their way into the house and attacked them, according to Denver Animal Control.

The larger dogs ripped the screen off the front security door of Shirley Croffard's West Denver home on Saturday night.

Croffard said the security door made her feel safe when she bought it last year. But at 5:00 Saturday night, she watched in horror as the larger dogs managed to get through it and attack her small-breed dogs.

"It was unprovoked. It was behind a locked door and still as a pack they came and destroyed," said Croffard.

When Croffard stepped in to protect her dogs, she was bitten, too and had to go to the hospital to have the wounds cleaned.

"I saw the dog on top of her and her screaming," said Albert Garcia, a neighbor who was also bitten by the dogs while trying to pull them off the smaller dogs.

Denver Animal Control said the dogs were two mastiffs and a possibly a pit bull.

Croffard's dogs were taken to an animal hospital where they are recovering tonight, but one may need several surgeries to survive, she said.

When 7NEWS reporter Jaclyn Allen tried to talk to the owner of the larger dogs, a man inside the home told her to get off the porch.

While the neighbor didn't comment, Denver Animal Control told 7NEWS they issued several citations and impounded the three dogs for public safety.

"Have these dogs been a problem in the neighborhood in the past?" Allen asked

"Yes," said Garcia. "They’ve been out of the yard. They’ve been in my backyard."

Now, neighbors tell 7NEWS they are worried about their own safety and the safety of their children if the dogs are allowed to return again.

"The horror of it all," said Croffard. "It's unbelievable this could happen to you in your own living room."

7NEWS learned that two of the three dogs held by Denver Animal Control are on a 10-day bite quarantine. Animal Control said the dogs have been impounded before. Neighbors tell 7NEWS it was for running loose in the neighborhood.

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